Now that is what I call a fish!

This fish was around 15 pounds! It was a carp that I caught in the Yellow River in Plymouth...Sarah had one but it got away after it broke her hook off in its mouth...it was fun to catch

My fish story...

Things have quieted down here in Plymouth (for now)...it seems like everything is swarming to May for some reason...


So here are a few pics of the people and fish that I caught last week! Sarah was there but she took the picture!

SMYG.

Worried Christians...

Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Christ told us not to worry but yet I know a lot of Christians who are professional worriers (instead of prayer warriors). They see this happening or listened to Van Impe and he said something was going to happen soon...most likely June 6th of this year (6/6/06)...Oh MY GOODNESS!!! We had all better get some extra food and water because something is going to happen and we need to be ready.

You think I sound crazy?

The Christian world is worried about the Da Vinci Code movie and book that are causing such a stir. C' mon...Jesus had a relationship with Mary Magdelene? They had a child and the line lives on today?

The book/movie is not about rewriting the history book for crying out loud. It is about one thing and one thing only... $$$$$$$$$$!


Oh, and don't even go there with the Gospel of Thomas...as if it were something new that National Geographic just found in some Aboriginal tribes burial grounds! That info, along with many...many...many other pseudo gospels can be found on the internet...nothing new to those who know...look it up...www.goggle.com...19,800,000 hits in .17 seconds...really, come on.

All that to say this...I think that we need to stop worrying and fretting over things that first of all, we no control over...second that are not going to shake the foundations of our faith. It is like we are scared that something is going to come along and rip the rug from beneath our faith. Archeologist have never found anything that contradicts what the Bible says.

So as a song that I sang when I was just a wee little tot goes...

" The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me...I stand upon the Word of God...the B-I-B-L-E...BIBLE!"

SMYG.

Dreams

Last night, I talked to the teens about dreaming and their own dreams. I went around the room and asked each of them what they wanted to do when the grew up and then bashed them and pretty much told them that they couldn't do that. It got some mixed reviews and I think it really opened some of their eyes. I told them that if they thought what I did was rough, just wait until they graduate and see what the outside world does and says to them about their dream.

This was a tough topic for me to talk about because it has been hard for me to dream. I am not sure what I am supposed to dream about being a pastor and all. I have absolutely no dreams of becoming a D.S. or G.S. or anything close to that. I don't dream of being the pastor at a Mega church. I don't know what a pastor is supposed to dream about.

I don't think it is right for me to dream about the youth group to grow in faith, that should be a goal and something that I am working on.

I am not a very strong dreamer. I guess that shows me where I am at in my life. I mean, there are things that I want to see happen. I want to feel hunger for something big! I want to thirst for something bigger than me...larger than what I have the ability to do. So many times, it seems, that people (myself included) don't try something or do something that seems larger or bigger than what they think their skill set allows them to accomplish. Failure causes more action (or lack thereof) than does faith from what I have seen. People don't want to fail and so they don't even try.

I am no scholar and I don't want to be. You will never see a post from me about the missional church or social holiness or the emergent church. I am a pastor that is trying to dream big for his kids. They aren't doing it for themselves!

Pray that God helps me to dream big!

SMYG.

The God of the OT vs. the God of the NT

I am diligently trying to read through the One Year Bible this year...I am up to date with the reading...I just came through the section where God "gives" the land of Canaan to the Israelites. It talked about how God helped the people essentially wipe out a whole region of people, their towns and their existance. If that would happen now, we would think it a catastrophic event and wonder what God was thinking or even doing. We don't have to worry about that in this situation. God was there, helping the Israelites destroy men, women and children without a second thought. Now I get that God told Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses that he would give them that land. It was his word and he cannot go back on it. Still, as I finished the reading I thought to myself, "Did those people ever have a chance at redemption?" Did they know that what they were doing was wrong? Did God try to give them an opportunity to follow him and maybe just move instead of totally being killed? I don't know....that is why I am asking the questions I guess. I find it hard to relate this God who is seemingly blindly in love with a people who turn their back just as much as the rest of the nations did, to the one that Jesus and the NT books talk about being a loving, merciful God. The Bible even says that it is not God's will that anyone should die and go to hell. So how do you relate these two?

SMYG

Truck and dog...what more could a guy ask for?!

I am so content with my truck no matter how weird people might think it looks...it is different...but then so am I!!! That is our crazy dog Lex...yes, he always has those bug eyes!

Happy Easter everyone...He is Risen!

Update...

Things seem to be going...they are good and kind of seem to be moving in slow motion. With Easter this Sunday, it is bound to pick up.

Other news: with the purchase of new vehicles, Sarah and I have begun a budget program. At first, I was a little worried about it...you know having to document EVERY dollar that you spend and having limits and stuff...then, God really spoke to me and showed me that I need more discipline in my life. I need more discipline financially and spiritually. I asked a few weeks ago about leadership and stuff and I think that God has really answered me with one word: Discipline. I am not a very organized person and I don't think that that helps my ministry. I have gotten frustrated with Sarah because she keeps pushing me towards that and I didn't want to hear it. (that whole woman intuition thingy is creepy!)

I am just working on organization and discipline so that God can use me as much as possible.

I will try to take some pics this afternoon of the truck and dog maybe and the washer and dryer and such to get you caught up on the "new" stuff in our life!

SMYG.

New vehicles...yeah...

This is going to my first new vehicle, vehicle with 4 doors, my first TRUCK

(now I get to be a real man!)





Sarah is getting a new vehicle too, one that won't send her in the ditch! Pictures sure to come...

Am I thankful...

I am thankful that it is Monday and that last week is over!!! Actually, its been a couple of rough weeks. As I wrote the last time, it seemed like people were "jumping ship" and leaving and the sort. It has been a couple of character building weeks as Zig Zigler likes to call them. Last week I was an assistant pastor/ youth pastor/ van driver/ secretary. So am I glad that it is a monday? You bet! Last night we had a good chili cook off...we made about $300 dollars...I had some family at the event...and we had 89 people there! Those are the good things. It was a rough night for Sarah because it was her first night acting as the "I am the wife of the youth pastor so that means you can gripe at me if you want" position. I am used to getting critized and I feel that I deal with it pretty well. I vent and then move on. However, mess with my wife and it isn't that easy to deal with. I can handle someone coming up and griping that we are selling on Sunday and how could I preach from the pulpit and yet sell on Sunday! You can tell me anything, complain about whatever, but if you make my wife cry...it makes me want to protect her. Still, it is over...lesson learned...lump taken...stress felt...and the only thing that comes into my mind? NEXT!

SMYG.